TV on DVD: Lost but not alone with Locke, Christian, Walt and the shoes

“I’m convinced the shoes have something to do with it.” Now, if you walked by my desk about 10 days ago and heard me make this statement to a colleague, would you know what “it” I was talking about? And THAT, my friend, is the difference between you and sad nerds like me who, nearly a month after the last new episode of Season 5, are still quite fixated on the series Lost. The shoes, of course, are Locke’s, the ones that Ben, I think it was, tells Jack he must put on Locke’s dead feet so they can recreate as many of the details of returning to the island as possible. The shoes also, because there is never only one level of meaning for Lost, also referred to the sneakers worn by Jack’s father, Christian, when Jack sees him in the island jungle for the first time (Season 1, Walkabout) and by Jacob?/Christian? in the cabin in Season 4. Fortunately, I am surrounded by other nerds who are obsessed with Lost. So much so that not only could I keep a colleague pinned to my desk while I spouted on and on about shoes and such, but another sad, nerd colleague walked by and, cued by the word “shoes”, asked furtively, dropping his head and lowering his voice, “Are you guys talking about Lost?” He listened intently for a second and then said, “I’m going to look up Lost and shoes. I’ll get back to you.” Now, you’re asking, what’s all this about shoes? Indeed, you are right. There are much more pressing questions when it comes to Lost, even though there are, gaak, seven months before the final season begins.

Some of these questions are spoilers so I will link only. Click at your peril.

Another character was apparently falsely rumoured to be returning… but will appear elsewhere on ABC.

The shoes have been confirmed as a link between Lost and the 1969 Kurt Russell movie, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. Russell’s last line of dialogue in that movie is the key to understanding every twist in five seasons of Lost.

One of the above is highly fictional. Also fictional, I am sorry to say, is my promise to have sawed through the first two seasons of Lost, reissued this week on Blu-ray. Sometimes, my friends, life intervenes. I am plugging away. I am loving the experience of rewatching Lost from the beginning, though I admit I feared seeing the little man behind the curtain, to use a reference to the L. Frank Baum classic so often drawn from in Lost. However, having gotten about halfway through Season 1, I can say that the great and powerful Oz is terrifyingly alive and well, right from the epic two-hour series premiere. The booming hi-def sound, afforded by the remastering and the Blu-ray watchamajiggery, does not hurt either. But the control of the story is what is really satisfying. Take an exchange between Locke, saved from his wheelchair by the island, and Walt, the boy with vaguely defined special powers. On the beach, Locke is fiddling with a backgammon set, explaining the game to Walt and holding up two game pieces: “Some are dark and some are light.” Okay, now maybe this is another nerdy shoes moment, but the scene put chills down my spine. References to a game and to dark and light, all set on the beach — it rockets through to the rivetting Season 5 finale, in which Jacob and the unnamed character played by Titus Welliver tackle the same topics, but with stakes, while yet undefined, much higher. Back to Locke and Walt on the beach, where Locke asks Walt if he wants to know a secret, which we do not get to hear. Later, Walt admits to his suspicious dad Michael that Locke said he’d experienced a miracle on the island. Michael irritably cuts him off, saying their survival was a miracle, but what was it that Locke told Walt? Was it merely about the restoration of his legs? Or some other magic business between two very potent characters? Fast-forward to the end of Season 1, where Locke is snatched by the smoke monster, which nearly drags him into a huge pit. Jack tries to save him but Locke tries to resist, saying that it’s okay, to just let him go. So is Locke the dark game piece? Is he the smoke monster? WILL you stop laughing? Locke has always been a spooky, pivotal character in this series, the man of faith to Jack’s man of science, but the two-Lockes at the end of Season 5 has only encouraged a reviewing of his role. I have assumed this mission. Clearly, I spend too much time on my own. I know that. Unfortunately, people keep hanging around my desk at work and only encouraging me. So I will persist. I am also checking out the progress of other Lost nerds via The Lost Rewatch: June 2009 to January 2010. Let the judging begin.

Here are some other new DVD releases, and don’t forget my ramble about the great show Saving Grace, which releases its second season this week.

Family Guy, Vol. 7 Transformers: The Complete First Season Burn Notice: Season 2 Everwood, the Complete Second Season Jesse Stone Thin Ice Murdoch Mysteries: Series 1 Trailer Park Boys: Seasons 1-7 Saving Grace: Season 2 Family Guy 100th Episode The FBI Files: Season 3 The Secret Lilfe of the American Teenager: Season 2 Generation Kill (DVD and Blu-ray) John Adams (Blu-ray)

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